


Day 4: Selfishness

by Night_StormCaptain



Series: Pidge Ship Week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, pidge ship week, plance, plangst I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-03 19:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12153255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Night_StormCaptain/pseuds/Night_StormCaptain
Summary: Lance believes there's no reason for him to stay with Voltron.  Pidge disagrees.





	Day 4: Selfishness

“Why am I so useless?” Lance shouted to no one, the one-way soundproof nature of his cabin ensuring that none of the others would hear him. With an utterly defeated sigh, he flopped onto his bunk, staring at the ceiling.

That day’s battle aboard the Galra battle cruiser had objectively gone extremely well. When the time had come to make their escape, Shiro and Keith had led the charge with energized arm and dual swords, respectively. Pidge had hacked into the battle cruiser’s defenses to turn them to the Paladins’ side, while Allura, still in a Galra guise, had carried the highly unstable prototype quintessence converter they had stolen. Meanwhile, Lance and Hunk had protected their backs.

_“There are too many of them!” Hunk yelped as another wave of sentries rounded the corner._

_“Can we make it back to the Lions before they catch us?” Lance asked anxiously._

_“Maybe…” Pidge didn’t exactly sound hopeful._

_Suddenly Allura appeared at Lance’s side. “May I borrow that?”_

_“What, my bayard?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Lance was so taken aback, he handed it to her without even thinking. Immediately, it morphed into the energy whip she had wielded in her brief but effective time as the Blue Paladin, and she charged the sentries, still keeping a grip on the prototype in her free hand._

_The Paladins -- those who had weapons, anyway -- fought with renewed vigor, and soon the path back to their Lions was clear. As they split off for their respective crafts, Allura handed Lance his bayard before joining Keith in Red. “Thanks, Lance!” she called over her shoulder._

_“You’re welcome.” Lance’s voice held little enthusiasm as he climbed aboard Blue and took off toward the Castle._

Lance winced at the memory. Everyone present had played a vital role in the battle -- everyone, that is, except him. _They didn’t need me there at all._

Restless, Lance stood and headed for the bridge, not so much because he wanted to see anybody, but because he had nothing better to do. Finding it deserted and the Castle in standby mode, he brought up the holographic map of the universe. Locating the dot that represented the Castle, he found that they were surprisingly close to Earth -- close enough to be there within a quintant without using the teludav.

The seed of an idea planted itself in Lance’s mind. He could go home to his family, and most likely, nobody would miss him. After all, they already had a better Blue Paladin than he could ever be, leaving no place for him among Team Voltron. His mind made up, he headed to his room, packed the things he wanted to keep, and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, figuring it would be polite to let the others know where he had gone.

_Dear everyone,_  
I’m leaving Team Voltron. It’s pretty obvious after today that you don’t need me, and since we’re close to Earth, I’m going home. Allura can claim her rightful place as the Blue Paladin, and you won’t have to worry about me being a burden. Good luck out there.  
All my love,  
Lance

Satisfied that the note conveyed everything he needed it to, Lance left it on the central console on the bridge and slunk down to the pod bay. Selecting a pod, he climbed in and set a course for Earth.

As the pod launched, Lance felt Blue calling to him, begging him to stay. “Sorry, girl,” he murmured. “You’ll be better off without me.” He forced himself not to look back at the Castle as he drifted farther and farther from Voltron and closer and closer to Earth.

Drifting through space alone in a small space was excruciatingly boring, Lance soon found. His first thought was to try some of the car games his family had always played on road trips, but it was difficult to play the alphabet game without billboards, and spotting license plates didn’t work without cars. He tried singing, which lasted maybe half a minute before his own tone-deafness drove him to stop. _Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a few seconds…_

“Lance!”

Lance jolted awake at the sound of his name being shouted in his ear. “Wha-huh?”

“What do you think you’re _doing_?” By this time, Lance was awake enough to recognize the voice as belonging to Pidge, and she did _not_ sound happy. “What were you thinking, running off like this?”

“Didn’t you get my note?” Lance asked.

“Yes, we got your note.” Pidge’s voice was tinged with acid. Lance noticed a blinking button with a camera icon on it and pressed it, regretting it immediately as a screen appeared to display the Green Paladin scowling ferociously at him.

“So? What do you want?”

“What do I _want_?” Pidge’s face flushed with anger. “I want you to come back!”

“What’s the point?” Lance grumbled.

“Team Voltron needs you,” Pidge insisted.

Lance rolled his eyes. “Right. Because what every team of defenders of the universe needs is a second-rate Blue Paladin who’s useless at everything he tries to do.”

“A Blue Paladin that we need! You’re being selfish!”

“You _have_ a Blue Paladin!” Lance snapped, losing his cool completely. “I don’t care if I’m acting selfish, it’s the truth!”

Silence.

“Pidge?”

“Fine.” Pidge took a deep, shuddering breath. “I guess this isn’t something I can argue with you.”

“So you’ll let me go?”

Pidge sighed. “I still think Team Voltron needs you, but even if they don’t… _I_ need you, Lance.”

Lance stared at her image on the screen. “What?”

“Maybe it’s selfish of me to try and keep you from going home, but I want you to stay. I don’t know how I’d make it through each day without your stupid jokes, and your constant smiles, and the way your eyes light up whenever you’re excited…” Pidge sniffled and turned away from the camera.

“You… you really think that way about me?” Lance was dumbfounded.

“Of course.” Her voice cracked a little. “I don’t know what I’d do if you were gone.”

Lance could only stare at her, her amber eyes glimmering with barely repressed tears, and it occurred to him just how important she was to him. _How could I have thought of abandoning her_? He took a deep breath, taking a last look in the direction he thought Earth lay before resetting the pod’s course. “I’ll never try to leave you again,” he promised.


End file.
